The Port Authority already has a PATH to sustainability; improve it! | Opinion

By Jesse Halpern
The Port Authority talks a big game about sustainability. At glance, several initiatives on the PA’s website are:
And with enough time, these may make a serious dent in our emissions.
But time is not on our side.
The latest climate data shows that the United States is significantly behind on meeting its Paris Climate Agreement commitments. And we as a planet continue to progress toward the disastrous tipping point of +1.5°C.
The above measures that the Port Authority is implementing certainly aren’t nothing. But none of them seriously address the elephant in the room: As a society, we consume a lot of energy. Especially to get around. In fact, it’s our second-largest energy-consuming sector.
Yes, embracing electric vehicles by installing chargers is a good thing. But EVs are not the silver bullet we want to think they are. EVs still consume energy. Quite a bit in fact. Indirectly, EVs, like ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) cars, have a bunch of negative impacts regarding sustainability:
And this is in addition to the other issues with EVs, such as microplastics and at best maintaining the status-quo regarding pedestrian safety.
So, what can the Port Authority do to show a serious commitment to reducing its carbon footprint? What can it do to demonstrate courage in tackling the elephant in the room? To do what is necessary to protect our climate?
The good news is that we already have the technology. In fact, it’s been around for centuries now and has only continued to improve on the energy efficiency-front.
It’s not electric vehicles.
It’s not solar.
It’s not LEED.
It’s not a proprietary secret.
It’s trains.
At the recent PA board meeting, just a few minutes were spent discussing PATH. Yet, PATH is one of the PA’s biggest weapons in their toolbox of climate change-fighting tools. Data is readily available from countless sources showing that electric trains are more energy-efficient than EVs. The Port Authority has been talking a big game about making the NYC-area airports into world-class transportation hubs.
What is one of the best ways we can do that while simultaneously reducing emissions? Trains.
Jersey City is New Jersey’s second-largest city by population and just 7 miles away from Newark Liberty International Airport. Yet it is substantially more convenient to access the airport from JC by car than public transit.
So, I ask the Port Authority to think bigger. I ask the Port Authority to be bold. To be daring. To think bigger than all of the popular and eye-catching technologies that corporations are selling. To have the courage to embrace an idea that has big-picture impacts on how we live, making our lives safer and more sustainable. I ask the Port Authority to consider what I and thousands of NY-area residents think about every day when we want to get around.
To make PATH the method of choice for getting around the Hudson County area, even during off-peak hours.
To build the Marion station that will encourage sustainable development and living.
To build the PATH extension to EWR and make PATH the method of choice for accessing our new world-class airport terminals.
I ask the Port Authority to consider trains.
Jesse Halpern is a Jersey City resident and frequent PATH rider who wants the next generation to enjoy a more livable and sustainable NYC area.
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